


The Accident

by TruebornAlpha



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Hospitals, Hurt Keith (Voltron), M/M, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 18:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11903613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TruebornAlpha/pseuds/TruebornAlpha
Summary: Keith gets into an accident, but Shiro's not the only one who's lost him once before.





	The Accident

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lionescence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lionescence/gifts).



> Thank you so much, Dragonescence! You've been such an inspiration ;~; Check out her awesome fic [here](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonescence/pseuds/Dragonescence)!
> 
> This follows the events of our fic, _[Speed Racers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8828404/chapters/20240035)_. You do not need to have read it to understand this fic, just know that Mei is Shiro's adopted daughter, and Keith has recently come out of a divorce with his husband, Quinn.
> 
> Other fics in this verse include _[Parent-Teacher Night.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11874207)_

They didn’t normally do anything on Wednesdays. Sundays were usually family night. It seemed to be the only time in the week where they had more energy and free time to do more than sit around and watch television. Otherwise, there were too many schedules to juggle, and pizza on the couch tasted just as good as pizza anywhere they could bring Mei, and considerably less sticky, too. But Shiro had wanted to try something different, didn’t want to wait until the weekend to take his best friend out. He couldn’t remember why now. It didn’t seem to matter. The tips of his fingers felt too cold.

“It was an accident,” Allura had said, one of Keith’s co-workers whose name that Shiro was sure he recognized from his own time trying to reach the stars. “I didn’t know who else to call. Does he have family in the area?”

And Shiro hadn’t known how to answer that. 

“I’ll be there.” He’d said instead. He didn’t remember throwing his things into his bag, didn’t remember how’d he’d gotten to Grand View Medical, or the calls he must have made because Hunk wasn’t dropping his daughter off at his office anymore. Had he sped over? It’d be the sickest sort of irony if he ended up at Keith’s side because they were sharing an ambulance. Should he have left Mei at home?

Could she handle it?

Shiro didn’t know.

“Daddy!” The second Mei saw him, she bolted away from her babysitter, sprinting across the waiting room and hugging his leg. “Where’s Keith? Can I see him?”

“He had a little accident. Hey baby girl, can you do something really important for me? Can you go sit right there and see if Keith’s name comes up on the screen? That’s how we know we can see him.” It wasn’t easy to keep his voice even and Mei wasn’t buying the cheerful act. Her face was tight with worry, but she scuffed her feet over to the chair and peered up at the television screen with the patient codes.

Shiro breathed a sigh of relief as Hunk came puffing up beside him. “Hey Shiro, has there been any news?”

“Not since I got here. He’s still in surgery, but they said he’ll be out soon. I don’t know, no one’s really telling us anything.” He held out his hands helplessly and Hunk pulled him in for a hug. Shiro hesitated, but it was still too easy to fall into the embrace. Hunk had been by his side ever since he’d returned to their quiet little town. One of Shiro’s smartest decisions had been moving into the home beside the smartest aerospace engineer he’d ever met. Hunk had been there the first time Shiro had locked himself out of his house, and Hunk was here now. Shiro didn’t think he could ever thank him enough.

“I’m so sorry I can’t watch Mei tonight, I can’t reschedule my test. I can be back once it’s over if you need help? Just give me a couple of hours.” He offered when they broke apart, and Shiro had never been so grateful for his friends. It wasn’t ever easy being a father, but at least he wasn’t doing this alone.

“No, go. I expect top marks from you, Hunk. We’ll be okay. Hopefully it won’t be much longer, and we’ll get some good news, so I can take her home.” Shiro tried to sound optimistic, but until he could put his hands on Keith and make sure he was whole, his heart wasn’t going to stop trying to escape his chest.

“I could stay a little longer…” Hunk offered, but he sounded unsure and Shiro caught the way his eyes darted to the clock in the corner of the waiting room.  
  
“We’ll be fine. There’s nothing anyone can do right now. We’re just going to sit tight until someone comes out to talk to us.” Shiro almost believed himself. Hunk shot him one last doubtful look, then he took a step forward and pulled Shiro into another hug.   
  
“It’ll be okay.” Hunk murmured. “Hang in there.”  
  
He moved to say goodbye to Mei, and Shiro already missed his warmth. He watched Hunk walk out of the room, and only looked away once he was gone.  
  
Mei had reason to hate hospitals, but Shiro didn’t have the best relationship with them either. They were all the same. It didn’t matter how pretty the lobby was or how many coffee flavors the waiting rooms had. The lingering scent of bleach clung to everything, and the lights were always that strange off-white that made his head ache. They’d been that way since Shiro first woke from his coma, and they’d been that way when his sister closed her eyes for the last time, leaving him and Mei alone. He had too many bad memories at waiting rooms just like this. Shiro prayed he wouldn’t have any more. 

Mei had gotten tired of watching the screen waiting for Keith’s code and scooted beside him until she’d managed to take over his entire lap. He wrapped his arms around her as she leaned against his chest. “Is Keith sick like mom was?”

Shiro’s heart seized at the mention of his sister. Losing her had been hard on all of them. Mei still didn’t talk about it much. She’d been so small and terrified when her whole world had fallen apart, and he’d been grieving too much to know how to switch from uncle Shiro to a father figure, especially as he was trying to recover from his own brutal accident, but they’d managed. She’d been the bravest little girl he’d ever seen, and he needed her to be brave again tonight. “No, Keith just got banged up a little bit. He’s going to be okay, and we’ll take him home with us.” He promised.

The door to the waiting room banged open and Shiro looked up, surprise hitting like a dagger to his heart.  _Quinn?_  It had been a long time since he’d seen Keith’s ex-husband and for a moment, he stared dumbly, trying to figure out how Quinn of all people had known about what had happened. He hadn’t thought to call him, it had been all Shiro could do to get here.

Quinn’s shirt was untucked, and half his hair was standing on end, like he’d forgotten how to comb it. Then Quinn turned to him, and everything seemed to stand still.

“What are you doing here?” Quinn asked, so genuinely surprised that Shiro was embarrassed, but the implications made his stomach clench uncomfortably. He almost missed the way his daughter had gone still, peering up at Quinn with guarded eyes. “Did they call you?”

“No.” Shiro said. Of the two, it seemed like the easier question to answer, but it left him feeling uncomfortably defensive, even if he had no right to be. The hospital must have called him, Shiro realized at length. They hadn’t called Shiro, Allura had been the one to reach out to him. The people in Keith’s life knew who he was. He didn’t have to justify being here, not when Keith was hurt, not when he wanted to be around when Keith woke up, and definitely not to Keith’s ex-husband of all people. But he still did. “His friend called me. She said it was an accident.”

“The hospital let me know. I didn’t think he would…” Quinn said, barreling on like Shiro hadn’t spoken. Then softly, almost like he was lost, he asked, “How could you let this happen?”

“I didn’t, I just got the call. He was at work.” Shiro bristled under the unspoken accusation as if he would have ever let Keith get hurt. Quinn just glared.   
  
“If anything happens to him- if he didn’t come back to this godawful town. Looking for, I don’t know. Or running. You always go running home when you screw up. That past comes back like a dog that doesn’t know it’s got fleas.”  
  
If Shiro ground his teeth any harder they would break, but his voice remained steady, even if he couldn’t help but return the barb. “Funny thing about the past, you can choose what you want it to be.” 

“Is that why I’m still listed as his emergency contact?” Quinn shot back, a little too loud. For a moment, the air crackled between them, but Quinn turned away. He’d lost this fight a long time ago and he didn’t even want to win. He just went through the motions because of habit. “I guess he still doesn’t have a home.”  
  
“Don’t you say that!” Both of them stopped, silenced by to sharp protest. Mei’s face was scrunched up like she was trying not to cry. “Don’t say that about Keith. He’s got a home.”  
  
There was a pause. Shiro took a breath and let it go, it was clear Quinn was worried honestly, he appreciated that after everything had happened, Quinn still cared enough to show up. And Mei needed him now.  
  
“Sweetheart, hey.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, just to get her attention. She inhaled wetly, determined to wrestle her emotions into place, but her cheeks had gone splotchy with color. “It’s okay. He didn’t mean anything by it. Keith’s going to be okay. He’s got people looking out for him.”  
  
Shiro didn’t expect Quinn to crouch in front of them, his voice warm and tender. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It was a mean thing to say.”  
  
Mei hesitated, barely stifling a hiccup. Then she nodded, only to turn around and hide herself against her dad. Shiro caught Quinn’s eye over her head. Quinn shrugged and slowly dusted himself off.

“Mr. Novak?” A doctor hovered in the doorway, unsure which one of them he was looking for. Quinn cleared his throat and took a step forward.

“I’m here, do you have updates on Keith? Is he okay?”

“He’s going to be fine. He was pretty banged up. His arm was broken and we needed to put pins in the bones, and he has a concussion. I’d like him to stay for another two days just so we can observe his condition, but he should make a full recovery.”

The two men gave a sigh of relief. They’d gotten lucky this time, but Keith was going to be okay. They could deal with anything else,  _Keith was okay_. “Can I see him?” Shiro asked, interrupting the doctor who gave him a look beneath an arched eyebrow.

“Are you family? We don’t want to overwhelm Keith while he’s recovering.”

“He’s family,” Quinn said, but he wouldn’t look at Shiro. “Keith would want them to be there when he wakes up.”

The doctor didn’t argue. “Very well, but just a short visit. Keith is going to need his rest.” He gestured them both back through the doors as Shiro stopped Quinn with a light touch to his elbow.

“Thank you.” He murmured quietly as Quinn nodded, blinking hard like the exchange had cost him more than he let on.

Mei clung to Shiro’s neck as they followed the doctor down the hall, listening to him explain the intricacies of Keith’s condition and recovery. He sounded so casual as he listed out the broken bones and number of stitches, though Shiro wasn’t sure how Keith had managed to stay in one piece. The doctor stopped outside one of the rooms.

“I’ll let you have a minute.”

Shiro gently set Mei on her feet, but the little girl clung to his hand and refused to let go. Every time she’d been in the hospital, something terrible had happened to someone she loved and usually, it meant they weren’t coming home today. Shiro gave her a quick hug. “Don’t worry, baby girl. Keith might be a little too sleepy to play with right now, but the doctor promised he’s okay. He’s just a little bruised, so we have to be very gentle with him until he’s feeling better.”

“Can he come home?” She whispered, too afraid to look in the room.

“He’s going to have to nap for a little bit until he feels better, then he can come home again. But we’ll take good care of him, right?”

“Kay.”

Yet Mei’s grip didn’t loosen, and Shiro didn’t entire want to let her go. There was a tense moment just outside Keith’s room filled with too much no one was ready to say. Then Quinn took a step back, claiming he needed to make a phone call. Shiro was pointedly aware of how much he owed Keith’s ex-husband.

The door opened, but Keith didn’t rouse. He was - not good, not with bandages peeking out from underneath his gown and a deep, worrying bruise blooming across the left side of his face, but he was better than Shiro had imagined. Whole and safe, with the worst behind him, he was everything Shiro could’ve wanted and so much more.

He guided Mei to one of the plastic chairs by Keith’s bedside, and leaned over so he could brush Keith’s messy hair out of his eyes. It hit him then, in a way that left his knees buckling. This could have been it. This could have been another tragedy, and everything he’d been bottling up threatened to drown him. Shiro let out a ragged exhale and pressed a kiss to Keith’s forehead. He almost didn’t recognize the husky voice that greeted him.

“Hey… Where’m?”

“Keith!” Shiro caught her before she launched herself at Keith and helped her very gently crawl into the narrow hospital bed. She settled in, careful not to knock any of the tubes or monitors taped to Keith’s skin as Shiro pulled his chair closer, stroking his fingers through Keith’s bangs.

“You gave us a scare. You were in an accident, but you’re gonna be okay.”

Keith groaned, the painkillers blocking most of the discomfort except for a dull ache across his whole body. He wanted to reassure Shiro, the look of fear and relief warring in Shiro’s eyes made them look liquid dark and Keith never wanted to see that edge of grief, but everything felt so hazy. Soupy, almost. Keith had never thought he’d sympathize with a stuffed dumpling, but he did now. “I’m sorry.” He croaked, trying to blink the sleep from his eyes, his throat so sore it sort of ached.

“Don’t apologize, I just thought for a minute that-. I love you, Keith. It’s all okay now.” Shiro couldn’t find the right words, but he didn’t have to. Keith knew every choked emotion that battered in his ribcage. They laced their fingers together, sharing a smile and a silent promise.

“Keith?” Mei said, squirming to look into his face.

“Yeah?”

“The doctor didn’t want to let us in ‘cuz we’re not family, but we  _are_. Can I call you papa so they don’t do that again?”

Shiro’s breath caught as Keith wrapped his good arm carefully around the little girl, voice breaking along with his heart. “Course, Mei. I’d be proud… be your papa.”

Shiro didn’t know if Keith understood what he was saying, if the surgery had left him woozy, or if he thought he was still dreaming, but the warmth in his crooked smile made Shiro’s heart swell in its too tight cage and made him forget how to breathe. Maybe this wasn’t anything at all, but it sure as hell felt like coming home.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find Dans [here.](http://itdans.tumblr.com/)  
> Rune's tumblr is [here](http://runicscribbles.tumblr.com/) and twitter is [here.](http://twitter.com/runicscribbles)
> 
> Please comment if you enjoyed! Come say hello. :)


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